An EU agreement with Central America cannot ignore the region's record of abusing trade union rights, nor the impact the agreement might have on decent work. That's why trade unions in both regions, including the TUC, see a social-labour chapter in the agreement as essential.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has written to Catherine Ashton, European Commission for Trade, seeking the inclusion of such a chapter:
26 March 2009
Dear Cathy
The TUC is writing to request that the Commission seeks to include the joint proposal of the ETUC and the Central American trade union groupings for a social-labour chapter in the above agreement.
This proposal has been put repeatedly to negotiators but has yet to be seriously considered. It is available at: www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf_2008CAPITULO_SOCIAL_ADA_CA-UE_EN.pdf
The proposal calls for the agreement to promote adherence to the ILO's core labour standards, to address the serious concerns we all have over the abuse of trade union rights in Central America. To ensure such adherence, the agreement needs adequate monitoring and implementation mechanisms that involve trade unions. We are also concerned about the likely social and environmental impacts of the agreement and so are calling for: better assessments of the impacts; the exclusion of sensitive sectors (chiefly services and public bodies); and the establishment of a social cohesion fund.
We hope that the upcoming seventh round of negotiations, from 30 March to 3 April 2009, adopts the proposal and look forward to receiving reports of positive progress.
Yours sincerely,
General Secretary
CC: Gareth Thomas MP, PUSS for International Development
David Martin, MEP
John Monks, General Secretary, ETUC
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